Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The attack
on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has heightened debate and acrimony
about Islam, Islamic theology, and the seeming propensity Muslims have to violence
-a perception that sometimes seems
universally shared by non-Muslims, but which is belied by empirical
studies.

It has
also fostered the view that Muslims should somehow take to the streets and
condemn, or worse, apologize for the actions of the few extremists in their
midst. This expectation emanates from
deep frustration with the turbulent acts of violence in the last two days, which
have confused and angered so many people around the world.

Logic
dictates, however, that Muslims should no more apologize for radical Islamism,
than Christians for radical Christian views or acts of violence. Nor should Buddhists
apologize and make amends for the action of Buddhist Rakhine extremists in
Myanmar, who have engaged in ethnic cleansing against minority Rohingya
Muslims. Nevertheless, Muslims must engage in a deep introspective look at the
sources of radicalism in their midst. Like any other religious text, the Quran
contains passages of war and violence. Without proper contextualization, however,
these passages can become dangerous in the violent hands of radical Islamists,
applying their fossilized religious interpretations.

Admittedly,
Muslim majority countries face challenges that go beyond religion, and include political
and socio-economic problems. The authoritarian edifice of most Middle Eastern
states and the lack of appropriate venues for dissent have radicalized a
generation of young Muslims in a quest to fight what many of them view asunjust, and un-Islamic governments. The deep sense of
alienation and marginalization of the young generation of European Muslims is also
of deep concern.

All this
notwithstanding, however, the greatest threat to Islam is the relatively modern
phenomenon of Wahhabism. A cancer that
has been allowed to fester and metastasize within Islam for several a couple of
centuries.

Muhammad
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-91) advocated a return to the example of the Prophet
and the salaf (companions of the Prophet,)
as a way to reform what he perceived at the time as a schism in Islam. Ibn Abd
al-Wahhab especially abhorred the popular cult of saints andidolatrous rituals at their tombs, which he
believed cast divinity on humans and threatenedIslam's monotheism. He opposed Sufism and Shi’sm as heretical
innovations (bid’a). Most dangerously, Ibn Abd al-Wahab called on Muslims
to reject the scholarly exegesis developed over the centuries by successive madhahib (schools of jurisprudence).
This call undermined the religious authority wielded by scholars in Muslim
world, and would ultimately enable generations of self-proclaimed religious
experts to interpret scriptures at will to fit their own political or
individual interests.

For all
of its reformist puritanical zeal, Wahhabism would have been relegated to a
mere footnote in the history of the region, if it were not for a literal pact
signed with the future founders of Saudi Arabia. Indeed, Saudi Arabia has
systematically financed and globalized Wahhabi, literalist interpretations of
Islamic texts.

Wahhabism's
globalization has had profound effects on the rise of radical interpretations
of Islam, outside the realm of learned theological hermeneutics.It has fueled extremists from Sayyid Qutb to Osama
bin Laden to ISIS, who have variously claimed the mantle of radical Islamic
reform and engaged in an extremist
takfirist war (a war against so-called apostates). This misguided and
nefarious battle has, in turn, effectively bastardized the noble concept of
greater jihad, as an inner struggle, and transformed it into a call for acts of
terrorism.

Wahhabi
thought bifurcates the world into two antithetical parts: the House of Islam and
the House of Unbelief.The former rests
on a dogmatic, rigid understanding of Islamic theology. The latter is the enemy
of Islam and consists of dictatorial Arab regimes, as well as moderate Muslims,
among others. Wahhabi extremists prescribe violence against those in the realm
of the unbelief,in accordance with
their radical interpretations of Islamic
texts.

Muslims
today must reject this radical bifurcation and tackle head on those literalist,
radical interpretations of Islamic texts. Unlike what Ibn Abd al-Wahhab may argue,
this task is not the responsibility of average Muslims. Rather it is the work of honest, brave, and learned
scholars of Islam and Islamic theology. In particular, passages in the Qur’an
and Hadith, on war, apostasy, and violence are in need of new, unequivocal
interpretations to fit the modern social and political realities of
Muslim-majority states.

In their
own ways, many Muslims have engaged in every day acts of resistance against these
assaults on their faith. These include education, outreach, interfaith
dialogue, and rejection of those amongst us who hold extremist Islamist views. But we must also tolerate positions that attack the holy in our
religion. Unless we, as Muslims, develop tolerance, not necessarily acceptance,
of negative discourses on Islam, we will
continue to cede ground toradicals who
seek to dictate the limits of the tolerable for Islam and all Muslims.

Acts of
violence, faux rage, and self-victimization serve only to foster a negative
image of our ability to solve the challenges facing our faith.Islam has lasted and largely flourished for
the last fourteen centuries. Surely, Allah, the Quran, and the Prophet do not
need protection from anyone, let alone the most heinous and criminal of
extremists and radicals.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Tunisia has passed yet another test on the long road to
democratic consolidation. The election on Baji Caid Essebsi as the first freely
elected president of Tunisia comes at the heels of his party’s legislative
victory last month. Indeed, these have been two glorious months for Essebsi’s
Nida’ Tounes, and for Tunisians’ path towards setting democratic, peaceful
transition of power amidst the abysmal failure of the Arab uprisings. In purely democratic fashion, The 88
year-old Essebsi received a concession from former interim president Moncef Marzouki,
and pledged to be inclusionary of the different political movements in Tunisia.

Essebsi’s majoritarian victory is not one of democracy against
Islamism as some may suggest. The two aren’t mutually exclusive and such
dichotomy is reductionist and essentialist. Islamists are not monolithic and
most of them are committed to democratic principles. Essebsi and Nida’ Tounes’s
electoral triumph (Essebsi's 55.68% to, interim president, Moncef Marzouki’s 44.32%) is
simply a statement of whom the Tunisians electorate entrust at this particular juncture with the colossal task
of economic and political development in the country.

Nida’ Tounes and Essebsi now control both the executive and
legislative branches of government. This presents tremendous challenges for the secular octogenarian Essebsi, and his secular party to deliver where the defeated Islamist Ennahda failed. In particular, Tunisia’s new
leadership has now a complete mandate to tackle security issues and reinvigorate the flailing
economy. Furthermore, Essebsi, a former interior minister in the repressive Bourguiba era, and speaker of the parliament during Ben Ali’s autocratic state, is now a legitimate
custodian of this transition, and has to work to further entrench democratic
political practices and governance.

While free, fair, and competitive, last week’s elections do
not signal that democracy is the “only game in town” in Tunisia yet. Tunisia’s
institutions must be imbued with mechanisms for inter-institutional
accountability, especially when it comes to building an independent judiciary.
Without such strong foundations for horizontal accountability and rule of law,
Tunisia’s nascent political experiment will never fully succeed as a truly
democratic state, and could risk devolving into more of a Latin American model
of delegative democracies, whereby electorally-chosen presidents ushered in a tradition strong presidentialist systems, and wielding greater
power than other branches of government, amidst absent patterns of
representation. Tunisia must steer away from South American presidencialismo, and institute a genuine system of institutional checks and balances.

Tunisia has so far shown great attitudinal and
constitutional proclivity towards the democratic process. Tunisians
increasingly believe that political change must be performed within democratic
parameters. Government and non-government forces have shown, even with the
Islamists of Ennahda, that the resolution of political conflicts is negotiated
through pacts, democratic laws, and institutions. It behooves Tunisia’s new
political elite to further consolidate legal and political institutions, and to strive to keep Tunisia as the only ray of hope in the maelstrom of the
post-Arab uprisings.

Monday, November 10, 2014

King Mohammed VI delivered his toughest, and strongly-worded speech yet on the Western Sahara. In his annual televised Green March Day speech, Mohammed VI reiterated Morocco’s stance on the conflict that has pitted Morocco, against the Polisario Front, and Algeria for almost four decades. Much like previous speeches, Mohammed VI advanced Morocco’s position for an autonomy arrangement for the Sahrawis under Moroccan sovereignty. This stance has been Morocco’s unwavering offer since 2006, and it is difficult to foresee a different path to conflict resolution in the Western Sahara. The king reiterated in the strongest terms that the Sahara is "an existential issue, not a border issue" for Morocco. This discourse is in line with previous speeches where Morocco has maintained consistency in its policy towards the conflict. Mohammed VI affirmed his commitment to a negotiated solution that takes into consideration the Moroccan autonomy plan, confessing that as a crown prince he negotiated in the Polisario camps in Tindouf. The king’s speech on the Western Sahara would not be complete without criticism of Algeria’s role in the conflict as an integral party to the hostilities in the region. The speech echoed the tone and tenor of previous discourse on the Western Sahara where the monarch appeared stern towards the neighboring north-African country: "Without holding Algeria responsible, as a key party to the conflict, there will not be a solution."
Unlike previous speeches though, the monarch lamented what he perceives as the ambiguity of the US position towards the Western Sahara, especially as the US continues to herald the kingdom as a “model for democratic development”, and “a partner in combatting terrorism in the region.” The royal comments towards the US are not expected to force any change in the American recalcitrant stance towards the issue, as any clear penchant towards Morocco could negatively affect US-Algeria relations, itself a key partner against terrorism in the Sahel.
The sovereign also cautioned Moroccans against “conspiring with the enemy” stating that "those that continue to betray the country, are considered traitors by national and international laws,” and that “a person can either be a patriot or a traitor” This dichotomous, zero-sum position indicates that the monarch is increasingly annoyed with the demands for reforms, and demonstrations against Moroccan human rights violations in the Western Sahara. Mohammed VI concluded that Morocco's stance is unchanged and that "the autonomy initiative is the maximum Morocco can offer in terms of negotiations to achieve a final solution to this regional conflict."
The king's speech is the latest pronouncement on Morocco's intransigent position in a conflict that has been in quagmire since the UN-brokered cease fire in 1991. Historical and identity issues, in addition to regional realpolitik tensions between Morocco and Algeria have virtually made it impossible to find a comprehensive solution to the conflict. The lack of will on the part of the international community, and regional security issues also favor the status-quo. Any solution to the stalemate will have to address all of these factors, and the plight of the Sahrawi people in the Tindouf camps in Algeria.

Friday, October 31, 2014

The latest elections in Tunisia have firmly set the country
on a solid path towards full democratic transition. In a region rife with
ideological and doctrinal conflicts, and amidst the failure of the Arab
uprisings to bring about meaningful regime change, Tunisia stands as the only
ray of hope. The electoral defeat of the Islamists of Ennahda and subsequent
concession to Nida' Tounes (Tunisia's Call) party show how far the democratic values have been entrenched in Tunisia’s
political culture. Contrary to confrontationist views on political Islam, these
elections are not an indictment against radical anachronistic Islamists, nor
have the Islamists engaged in electoral dissimulation, or attempted an
abrogation of the electoral processes.

Nida' Tounes's victory is not a blow to political Islam as much as it is a momentous
event highlighting the success of the democratic political process in Tunisia. The
results of the elections and the vast plurality of the votes that the
Bourguibist-secular Nida' Tounes accumulated on Sunday are a reaction to societal
disappointment with Ennahda’s governance and inability to tackle the many
socio-economic problems and security challenges that Tunisia is facing prior to
their forced retreat from power a year ago.

Nida' Tounes faces a monumental task to deliver now that they are
set to rule over a coalition government. Concerns over the membership of Nida' Tounes,
however, could overshadow their mandate over the next few years. Nida' Tounes
is made up of former regime functionaries and politicians. The party has worked
diligently to distance itself from ties to deposed president Zine al-‘Abidine
Ben 'Ali and his former party of power the RCD (French Acronym for Democratic
Constitutional Rally). For now the plurality of Tunisians have accepted the
narrative of Nida'. But as the new government tackles some of the pressing
socio-economic issues of the country, and in the case of under-performance orpotential setbacks, old skeletons may
resurface again tying the party to the tejma’a of former RCD-ist members. Nida' Tounes’s
octogenarian leader Beji Caid Essebsi’s decision to seek the election in the
presidential elections set for November 23rd is also causing much
consternation from Tunisians concerned about a total Nida' dominance of both
the executive and legislative branches of government.

In the spirit of the democratic and civil constitution, however,
political actors from Nida' Tounes and Ennahda expressed their renewed
commitment to a peaceful political transition. Beji Caid Essebsi, himself a relic from both
Bourguiba and Ben Ali regimes, has so far channeled the right message in
victory stating that Nida' will not govern alone, even if it means a coalition with Ennahda. That is unlikely, however, for Nida' will probably court its own
family of leftist parties to join in the new government. Leftist secular UPL
(French acronym for Free Patriotic Union) of Slim Riahi, sometimes dubbed as
the Tunisian Berlusconi, is already setting conditions to join Nida' in the new
government with demands for meaningful cabinet portfolios.

Ennahda Islamist party is reeling after its failure to capitalize on
the popularity and momentum it garnered after the fall of Ben 'Ali's dictatorship in the initial stages of the Arab
spring. The party suffered from lack of experience in governance, false perceptions of association to
radical Islamists, and marred by two high profile political assassinations of
leading secular politicians under its watch. These fed into the general sense
of insecurity Tunisians have felt under Ennahda, especially as the rest of the
Middle East and North Africa is rife with radical Islamist extremism. Ennahda
has also paid the price for its inability to deal effectively with the economic
challenges, and general political reforms that Tunisia still needs especially
in the area of the judiciary. Its leader Ghannouchi perhaps spent more time
making the case for the compatibility between democracy and political Islam
abroad than at home.

Tunisia is steadily inching towards democratic consolidation
where fair, free, and competitive elections, rule of law, and respect for civil
liberties become the “only game in town.” Tunisians are undergoing vast
behavioral and attitudinal changes. While Tunisians’ confidence in democracy is
waning as the latest pre-elections Pew survey shows, belief in further
political change through democratic means is still strong. Democratic
consolidation, however, can only be further advanced if government forces in
Tunisia continue to resort to constitutional means to resolve conflicts, and
build areas of compromise within the boundaries of state institutions.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Human Rights Watch has released a recent report on the status of human rights in the Polisario-run comps in Tindouf, Algeria. In the report, the human rights vanguard organization lists a series of human rights violations by the Polisario Front in the areas of judicial rights, freedom of speech, and some cases of slavery-like practices:

"While the Polisario tolerates some speech and demonstrations critical of its governance, Human Rights Watch heard credible allegations that authorities harassed some critics for speaking out. In addition, the rights of some civilians tried before military courts have been abridged, and slavery-like practices continue to exist in isolated cases."

The Human Rights organization issued some recommendations both to the Polisario Front and the Algerian government:

"The Polisario Front should end military court jurisdiction over civilians and redouble its efforts to eradicate all vestiges of slavery, Human Rights Watch said. The Front should ensure that camp residents are free to challenge its policies and leadership peacefully and to advocate options other than independence for Western Sahara. Algeria should publicly acknowledge its legal responsibility for ensuring respect for the rights of everyone on its territory, including residents of the Polisario-run refugee camps."

The 94-page report, "Off the Radar: Human Rights in the Tindouf Refugee Camps,"comes out amidst mounting pressure, especially on Morocco for human rights violations in the Western Sahara. In a previous article, I was, and remain, critical of the narrow approach to the conflict solely in terms of the authoritarian nature of the Moroccan state and its human rights violations in the territory. Then and now, the issue is one of self-determination and an identity conflict that should take in to consideration the historical claims to the territory by Morocco.In the absence of UN human rights monitoring, the report by Human Rights Watch is one of the few reliable source the internal community has about the status of human rights in the disputed territory. It provides a much needed look at the conditions of the Sahrawis living under Polisario rule, and offers some balance to the one-sided focus on Moroccan autocratic violations.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Morocco’s
revolutionary rapper, Mou’ad Belghouat, is arrested again. After a year in jail
for fictitious charges, El Haqed (the Indignant) was arrested Sunday outside
Mohammed V Stadium where his favorite Raja de Casablanca football club was to
play arguably one of its important matches of the season. Like any football fan in Casablanca, El Haqed, with his
brother and friends, was strolling into the stadium when he was arrested by police officers for scalping
tickets in the black market. This is hardly an offense in any world stadiums,
and is a vindictive trumped-up charge to settle scores with a virulent critic
of the regime and state.

The
circumstances of his arrest are not still fully clear. Moroccan activist Zineb Belmkaddem provides one of the best
accounts thus far on this latest episode of state brutality against the
Kingdom’s fiercest rapper. Belmkaddem spoke with El Haqed’s brother, Hamza Belghouat,
who was arrested as well, taken to the police station, allegedly beaten, and
released Sunday night. Belmkaddem writes:

“As soon as he
[El Haqed] got to the gates with his brother and his friends, police approached
them and immediately targeted Mouad [ElHaqed]. One officer made it clear that
he needed to settle something with him. Police then accused him of buying
tickets from the black market, and proceeded to beat him and his brother into
submission when he objected and denied their allegations. They cuffed him
shortly after and took both brothers, while allowing their other friends with
the same regular tickets to run. “It looked as though it was premeditated, they
acted as if they’d already planned to brutally assault us both at first, arrest
us, take our belongings, beat us some more, then keep Mouad in custody”. Hamza
continued to describe the situation as an appalling and humiliating experience:
“They hurt him badly in his hands, I saw the marks… they dragged us into one of
those blue police vans and beat us even more. The aftertaste is always
horrible. They insulted us and attacked us for five hours during the
interrogation. It was so humiliating. They took my smartphone, then took us to
the 15th (name of one of the police stations in Casablanca). They
then kept my things, let me go, and kept Mouad locked up”.

El Haqed
released his second album a couple of months ago, entitled “Walou” (nothing),
in which he decries a state of despair and futility living under current political and economic conditions in Morocco. In the
Album, El Haqed criticizes in familiar themes to his past songs, notably his incendiary
“Klab ad-Dawla” (Dogs of the State), the state of social injustice, corruption,
and hopelessness rampant among the youth. In the song “Walou”, El Haqed advances an almost nihilistic view of Morocco where there is larger state of
worthlessness of all existing political and social structures:

“Walou...(nothing)..No
culture, no art, no creativity, no writers, no society, no associations, no
parties..dumb down, dumb down the people”

Since
the release of his album, El Haqed is said to have been waiting for the state’s
retaliation, and it is hardly a surprise that the forces of order would seek
the most repugnant ways to silence an artist in his quest to express the
frustrations of many of his generation.

Italian
filmmaker Federico Fellini once said: “Censorship is advertising paid for by
the government.” Harassment of El Haqed
will certainly further highlight his songs and lyrics. His latest album “Walou”,
available in its entirety on YouTube,
will garner much wider appeal and viewership now that he is prosecuted by the state. Authoritarian states still do not fathom that muzzling dissident voices only amplify their message in the most poignant manner. It also provides a focal point for increased protests and opposition to state authority. The latest arrest of El Haqed further highlights the setbacks that Morocco has undergone since the passage of the much-heralded new constitution of July 2011. A constitution that was promulgated after the initial sparks of the Arab uprisings, and supposedly guarantee freedom of speech, including artistic expression, and journalistic independence.

The Moroccan authorities have
effectively lost the compass in recent months clamping down on all vestiges of
individual freedom, especially those that are critical of its structures and
policies. Journalist and fierce critic of the state, Ali Anouzla, is still in prison
waiting for trial for ludicrous charges of supporting terrorist groups. The
state is flexing its muscles after the failure of the protest movement to mount
a significant challenge to the regime. Increased state confidence is palpable
in its unjust and shameful treatment of dissident voices. The State ought to
tackle real issues of concern to Moroccans, the same issues that are treated in
El Haqed’s lyrical diatribes, and Anouzla’s incisive columns. Instead, the
authorities seek to silence, the bearers of those messages.

Monday, March 17, 2014

This is my short commentary on Libya on Al-Jazeera English. I basically argue that Libya's current situation is precarious given the lack of central governmental authority, and schism between the western/eastern parts of the country over power and economic resources highlighted by the issue of the "Morning Glory" Tanker.